Reel supporting pallet



Sept. 5, 1961 A. L. PIZZI ETAL REEL SUPPORTING PALLET Original Filed March 9. 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 HLLPIZZI /J/I/ VENTUQE 63 23 FZLUHHLJE Q5 E TU/FAEH Sept. 5, 1961 A. L. PlZZl ETAL 2,998,940

REEL SUPPORTING PALLET Original Filed March 9, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J/IIVE'NTUE'S 1:7. 14. /zz/ Sept. 5, 1961 A. PlZZl ETAL REEL SUPPORTING PALLET Original Filed March 9, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 J/I/ v/v U E #7. L1. F /Z Z Q MHHLIEEQG' 5 Sept. 5, 1961 A. L. PlZZl ET AL REEL SUPPORTING PALLET Original Filed March 9, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 R mm 7 3 W\// SW. A

TTU/TY'NE' United States Patent 2,998,940 REEL SUPPORTING PALLET Albert L. Pizzi, Union, and Roger R. Wahlberg, Bloom- 1 Claim. (Cl. 2'4268.7)

This division of a co-pending C. H. Crosby-W. T. Hicks-A. L. Pizzi-R. R. Wahlberg application, Serial No. 798,174, filed March 9, 1959, and wherein the invention relates to reel supporting pallets for use in apparatus for making cable, particularly in supply stands of the type used with such apparatus and their means for loading reels of strands therein.

In cable forming apparatus, such as cable stranders and stranding cablers, supply stands are provided with reel supporting units for the numerous supply reels for the single or multiple strands to be used in forming cables of various sizes. Owing to the fact that units of various sizes are formed of groups of varied numbers of strands or insulated conductors and the units are brought together to form the cables, supply stands must be pr0-- vided with numerous rows of supporting units for supporting the reels of strands or conductors. The operating time lost in setting up stranders or stranding cablers for operation depends largely upon the time required for removing empty reels from the supply stands, moving the required number of full reels into the supply stands, 10- cating them with respect to their supporting units and causing operation of the supporting units to position the supply reels for rotation.

The principal object of this invention is a reel supporting pallet particularly for a supply stand in which, and by the aid of the pallet, full reels may be quickly and accurately positioned and then removed when desired with minimum loss of time.

According to the object, the invention includes a reel supporting pallet having a main portion with spaced integral members extending upwardly therefrom and having elongate parallel apertures therein open for portions of their lengths to expose portions, rods rotatably supported in the apertures to rotatably support a reel thereon.

More specifically, the pallet includes stops mounted on the main portion to engage the heads of the reel to hold the reel on the rollers, cam members to assist the reel in being raised into and being lowered from mounting position and wear resisting stop engaging members.

Other objects and advantages will 'be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a supply stand of a cable strander or a stranding cabler embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of one of the pallets;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of one of the pallets, portions thereof being shown in section;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

In the present illustration, a supply stand indicated generally at 10, FIG. 1, has two upper and two lower rows of supporting units 11 only one row of each being shown. The supporting units 11 are of the type having spaced heads with cooperating cone centers as shown in. the applicants co-pen-ding application, Serial No. 798,175, filed March 9, 1959, now Patent No. 2,958,178. The are 1. are poi ed a kas eases as? n lCCf , rows of rollers mounted in the frame structure of the sup ply .stand 10 to be engaged by outer portions 14 of like pallets 15. The conveyor means is driven in reverse directions by means not shown to advance pallets 15 longitudinally into or out of the supply stand. The conveyors, or the rollers of the conveyors 12, support the pallets 15 for movement in predetermined planes relative to their supporting units 1 1 and are to locate supply reels 16 so that when full, they may be loaded in their respective supporting units and when empty, may be released from their supporting units and come to rest on their pallets 15.

The pallets 15 are identical in structure and a description of the pallets shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, inclusive, will apply to all of the pallets. The pallet 15 has a fiat bottom surface 18 with parallel reversely positioned grooves 19 therein disposed like distances from the sides 20 of the pallet and free of the conveyor rollers 12. The pallet is constructed in this manner so that it may be disposed upon anyof the conveyors 12 with either end leading toward a fixed stop 22, FIG. 1, for actuation of movable stops 23. Each groove 19 has a widened or deeper exit end 25 while the entrance end stops short of a cam 26 and a holding member 27.

The cams 26 are hardened steel bars supported for rotation in sockets 28 of the pallet, and the holding members are the top surfaces of grooves cut in the bottom surface of each pallet in planes tangent to their roller cams. Parallel projections 30 of the pallet 15 are grooved at 51 to receive a reel I16 and further grooved or longitudinally apertured at 33 to rotatably receive hardened steel bar-like rollers 34 accessible to and upon which the reel may rotate. Pairs of retaining elements 36 disposed adjacent the sides 20 have outer tapered surfaces 37 for guiding their respective reel heads into or out of the pallet, surfaces 38 slanting downwardly from the surfaces 37 serve in guiding the reel 16 when being mounted in its supporting unit 11 and particularly to guide the reel when released from the unit to cause the reel heads t0- ward their retaining walls 39 which (3839) cooperate in forming retaining pockets to hold the reel against lateral displacement.

The movable stops 23 are identical in structure with the exception of the possible variation in length if at any place in the supply stands there should be a variation in the spacing of the supporting units 11. At this time and in this instance, the movable stop 23 will be of varied length to assure location of the pallet it is to stop in registration with its supporting unit. The movable stop 23 shown in FIG. 4 is rotatably mounted on a spindle 41 disposed intermediate its ends 42 and 43. The location of the spindle 41 is oil? center with respect to the ends of the movable stop so that in all instances, the pallet engaging ends 43 will rest normally on locating members 44 and will rotate counter-clockwise to these positions when released, causing the ends 43 to be positioned normally out of the path of the pallets and the curved actuating ends 42 to extend upwardly into the path of the pallets.

Each pallet has apertures 48 at each end thereof serving as handles for placing the pallet, by any suitable means such as shown in a co-pending application of Crosby-Dzugan-I-Iicks-Wahlberg, Serial No. 810,620, filed May 4, 1959, for movement with the reel onto or off of any of the conveyors 12.

Operation In the supply stands, there may be a large number of aligned supporting units 11 requiring a like number of lRP Y reels 1! fi let wit the Pr er t a d Q ias l tsd single or pairs of conductors for use in making a cable. The pallets loaded with their supply reels may be moved onto the conveyor 12 and advanced toward the stop 22. Spacing of the pallets while they are being moved into the stands on the conveyors is not important as each preceding pallet will operate the movable stops to locate the ends 43 thereof inits groove 19 and in the path of the next pallet to cause spacing of the pallets before they reach their supporting units 11. The movement of each pallet to move the groove 19 in registration with the end 42 of each movable stop 23 permits rocking movements of the Stops to lower the ends 43 free of the following pallets.

In following one of the pallets, for example, the leading pallet, its cam 26 will rock each movable stop 23 about its pivot 41, but this action will not stop the leading pallet nor interfere with subsequent pallets if spaced a suitable distance behind. The grooves 19, in each pallet, permit each movable stop 23 to rock counter-clockwise as soon as the end 42 leaves the holding portion 27 and enters the groove to locate the end 43 out of the path of the oncoming subsequent pallet. This action continues until the leading pallet engages the stop 22 at which time its movable step 23 will be rocked by the cam 26 into the position shown in FIG. 4 and held by the portion 27 to locate its end 43 to be engaged by the cam roller 26 of the following pallet and be stopped thereby. This condition is repeated for each successive pallet so that when all of the pallets have been moved into position, they have caused actuation of their movable stops to jointly cooperate in locating the pallets with their reels in mounting alignment with their supporting units.

When the reels are mounted in their supporting units, the strands or insulated wires may be withdrawn therefrom to form a cable or cable unit and the pallets are ready to receive the empty or partially empty reels when unloaded from their supporting units. These reels may be removed from the supply stand in somewhat of a reverse manner to that in which they were moved into position on the conveyor. It is advantageous to have the reels empty when removed. Frequently excess strands or wires remain, after forming the last cables, which may be removed by the means shown in the co pending application of Crosby-Hicks-Wahlberg, Serial No. 798,173, filed March 9, 1959, now Patent No. 2,959,905.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

A reel supporting pallet having a main portion, spaced integral members extending upwardly from the main portion and having elongated parallel apertures therein open for portions of their lengths, rods rotatably supported in the apertures to support heads of a reel for rotation, means mounted on the main portion to engage the heads of the reel and thereby hold the reel on the rotatable rods, and stop engaging rollers rotatably supported by opposite ends of the main portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,007 Wheat Jan. 18, 1910 1,902,611 Blackman et al Mar. 21, 1933 2,904,273 Turner et a1. Sept. 15, 1959 

